1908 Finnish parliamentary election

none Finland 1809 parliamentary 1909 Finnish parliamentary election 1909 All 200 seats in the Parliament of Finland 101 1–2 July 1908 130x130px Edvard Valpas.jpg Edvard Valpas-Hänninen Social Democratic Party of Finland 83 310,826 38.40% Finnish Party 55 205,892 25.44% 110x90px Young Finnish Party 26 115,201 14.23% Axel Lille in 1906 (cropped).jpg Axel Lille Swedish People's Party 24 103,146 12.74% Otto Karhi 1907.jpg Otto Karhi Agrarian League (Finland) 10 51,756 5.75% File: Antti Kaarne 1909.png Antti Kaarne Christian Workers' Union of Finland 2 18,848 2.33% 3 1.37pp 37.03%, 80 seats 1907 Finnish parliamentary election 1907 27.34%, 59 seats 4 1.90pp 13.65%, 26 seats 0.58pp 0.14pp 12.60%, 24 seats 5.75%, 9 seats 1 0.64pp 1.55%, 2 seats 0.78pp Parliamentary elections were held in the Grand Duchy of Finland on 1 and 2 July 1908. Background The Russian Tsar Nicholas II dissolved the first modern and democratic Finnish Parliament after its Speaker, Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, refused, in the Tsar's opinion, to show enough respect for him when speaking at the parliamentary session's opening. In 1908, the Russian government restarted its Russification policy in Finland, limiting Finnish self-government. Campaign Most Finns, including most Finnish parliamentarians, opposed the Russification, but disagreed on the means to effectively oppose it. The Social Democratic Party's supporters hoped for positive results from their party's work in Parliament, such as the growing prosperity of workers and tenant farmers, but would be disappointed during the next several elections. The other parliamentary parties, with the partial exception of the Agrarians, considered the Social Democrats' demands, such as an eight-hour workday, too radical to be implemented while Finland was trying to save its self-government. Parliament had no official control over the government, which was responsible only to the Tsar and to the Governor-General. Parliament's legislative power was also limited by the Tsar's ability to veto its laws, without a time limit on his consideration whether to veto the laws or not.Seppo Zetterberg et al., eds., A Small Giant of the Finnish History / Suomen historian pikkujattilainen, Helsinki: WSOY, 2003Allan Tiitta and Seppo Zetterberg, eds., Finland Through the Ages / Suomi kautta aikojen, Helsinki: Reader's Digest Ltd., 1992 Results File:Finnish Parliament 1908-1909.svg Social Democratic Party 310826 83 +3 Finnish Party 205892 54 –4 Young Finnish Party 115201 27 0 Swedish People's Party 103146 25 0 Agrarian League 51756 9 +1 Christian Workers' Union 18848 2 0 Others 3772 0 – 0 7896 1269177 Mackie & RoseThomas T. Mackie & Richard Rose (1991) The International Almanac of Electoral History, Macmillan, p243 (vote figures) References Category:Parliamentary elections in Finland Parliament Finland